Automatic train pipe connecter



y 1935- J. ROBINSON AUTOMATIC TRAIN PIPE CONNECTER Origihal Filed Jan.21, 1929' -2 Shets-Sheet l v INVENTOR; gasp/v fiobmaoiz I ATTORNEYS IJuly 21, J RO NSON AUTOMATIC TRAIN PIPE CONNECTER Original Filed Jan.21, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet? INVENTOR efwggio%bwsam ATTORNEYS Patented July21, 1936 AUTOMATIC TRAIN PIPE CONNECTER Joseph Robinson, New York, N.Y., assignor of one-half to Roy M. Wolvin, Montreal, Quebec,

Canada Application January 21, 1929, Serial No. 333,868 Renewed January6, 1934 8 Claims. (01. 285-58) This invention relates to automatic trainpipe connecters and has among its objects to simplify the constructionand reduce the cost of manufacture of these devices. In carrying thisobject out I provide an improved support on which is mounted a couplinghead having characteristics peculiarly important in carrying out theobject of my invention.

Heretofore practically all automatic train pipe connecters have beenconstructed, with a rigid bracket extending from the car coupler lugdownwardly beyond the horizontal center line of the connecter, a stemleading from the head rearwardly through or around the bracket, and acoiled spring at the rear of the bracket, or between the bracket and thehead, for extending the head and for co-acting with the bracket tosupport the head in the normal horizontal position. In someconstructions, the coupling head is supported against vertical downwardmovement by a rod or a chain, but in every connecter that I know ofwhich has operated with any degree of success I there is a considerabledistance between the head and the bracket compared to such distance inthe present invention. Similarly the coupling heads used in these priorconstructions have gathering means of length considerably greater thanthe length of the gathering means employed in my invention. There is animportant relationship between these dimensions in the automaticconnecter I have produced. The greater the distance between the couplinghead and the bracket, and the longer the guides or prongs of thecoupling head, the more diflicult it is to align the heads incoupling-see Figure 6., In the present invention the pivotal point ofthe head is, as usual, at the bracket, but the bracket is very near therear side of the coupling head. The gathering means are preferably ofthe-pin and funnel type and are very short or shallow. They arepreferably of the pin and funnel design for the reason that in thesupporting device of the present invention no means is provided forresisting lateral movement of the coupling head, an advantage which willlater be explained. Therefore, the pin and funnel arrangement lendsitself well to the successful carrying out of the objects of thisinvention for the reason that once the guide pin enters the funnel theheads must come to alignment. The pin cannot get out of'the funnel, andas the heads move to final engagement they necessarily are forced intoalignment notwithstanding the absence of resistance to lateral movementof the head. Therefore the particular form ofcoupling head illustratedbecomes an important part of the combination of elements by which theobjects of this invention are achieved. Ofttimes in service car couplersslip by, and it is necessary that the coupling heads of the connectersshall be capable of a 6;,

versal joint of the present invention (Figures 1 and 2) permits a widerange of vertical and lateral movement to the coupling head whichcompletely protects the connecter against damage in slip bys.

A further advantage resulting from this freedom of movement in theuniversal joint is the reduction of stresses in the train pipe hosewhen. the connecter head is pushed around to one side (especially to theleft, facing the car) in slip bys. In such swinging of the connecter,the hose is, with present connecter types, consider ably stretched. Thisis due to the relatively great distance from the coupling head facerearwardly to the center of the universal joint in existing connecters.With this distance shortened as in the present invention, the couplinghead may, without strain on the hose, move to any position required bythe conditions of service.

Another desirable advantage, and one applying especially to the purposesof the present invention, is that of passing the conduit through thecoupling head at an angle of 45 to the track. The peculiar advantagearising therefrom for this invention is, first, it is desirable to usein this invention a compact buffer spring of nominal resistance. If therearward forceon the connecter head due to the fluid pressure isconsiderable, it would, because of the position of the spring in thisinvention, overcome the springs resistance, unless the spring is heavy.If a heavy spring is used, the object of simplicity and compactness,with low manufacturing cost, constituting one of the objects of thepresent invention, would be defeated. By passing the conduit through thehead at angle of 45 to the track the resistance of the fluid pressurecarried is greatly reduced as respects its tendency to kick theconnecter heads apart. The result is that the use of a relatively lightspring is permitted with excellent results. On many cars there is notroom to place a heavy spring in the position shown.

In passing the conduit through the coupling head at the angle mentionedI provide an improved form of stem for the head which will later be morefully described.

Other andifurtherobjects and advantages of the invention will behereinafter set forthand the novel features thereof defined by theappended claims. i

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention as it would appear appliedto a car. In this view ,a

part of the car coupler and a part offthe ltrain pipe hose are brokenaway.

Figure 2 is a plan view on'the line of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the bracket or supporting means of apart of my invention, and Figure lis a side elevation of a modificationof the up rti gmeans-of my invention, 1 1 I Figure 5 is a front view ofsuch'modification ihesprin omitted." 7

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic plan view illustratingthe' advantages of theshort prong and shallow funnel of the. coupling head of my invention,in'combination with the short hook up between the universaljjoint andthe. coupling head, over the longhook upbe'tween these parts. I

ward endof thejstem. j

'. Re ferring now to the ,couplert by r'n'eansofa bracket or'basemtheupper end of which is'turned to pass through ah openingv in the lug tothre d n'glyr c a nut 10. A vertically extending groove ll i'spr'ovidedin the lug in which the upperend or neck I} of. the baserests and issecurely locked bythe nut ID. The arrangement prevents movement of thebase with respect to the lug. i A forked arm or, bracket 14 is providedto the base at l5 and extends downwardly therefrom.. Pivotally orotherwise secured within the fork of the arm and extending rearwardlytherefrom through a spring seat l6 forming a part of the base; A, Iprovide a tieerod I! having a seat .l8 for.a spring. Around the tie-rodandbetween the seats. l6 and I8 I mount a coiled spring l9 preferablyofthe white type. The purpose of this spring is' to 're-.

sist rocking movement of the arm l4 longitudi nally of the car, and tohold the armat the limit of its forward movement, suchlimitbeing.cleter-" mined by the position of the nut 20;.on the tie rodl'L vA 'At its lower end the rocker arm or bracket I4 is hooked into, anopening or seat 2| (Figure 2) in therear end of the stemB of myinvention. 'Ihe'projection 22 at the lower end ofthe arm; forms a seator supportfor supporting the rear, end of the stem B on the arm. Thearm' is'jpref-" erably round in cross section where it contacts with-thewall 23 of the stem, the contacting sur-j faces of this wall, and of thearm, being flared in, opposite directions as shown to' permit the stemto move freely onthe arm. I

.The arrangementof the parts of my improved supportproduces a universaljoint of extreme simplicity, in which the pivot point of the head, C;onthe bracket, is ,for the important reasons; heretofore pointed out,located a distance to the rear of the head that isless' than one-halfthe distance covered by the lateral spread of the gathering means oftheheade-see-FEUresZ and 6,v

Figure '7' is a detail side elevation of the drawings: My. inve tion} Iis attached to thecustomary lug 8' ofthe' car the connecten andpreferably flush with the face" .24 of the stem, 1 mount a suitableconduit 26 having'i'n its forward end the customary resilient I gasketnot shown. The conduit is removably heldin the stem by means of asuitable spring actuated'or' other form of plunger 2?, such as shown inmy, c oep ending application Serial No. 248,917 filed January 23, 1928for improvements in automatic train pipe connecters. At one side theconduit is providedwith' a perforated lug 28 through which the plunger21' extends to lock, the conduit in place. said; the forward end-of thestem B is of rectangular'shape in cross section-see Figure 7. It'isslotted at 29 to receive'the projection 28 of the conduit, and isprovided with a neck or projectio n 30 which lies'in advance of thefront face of the couplinghead C. Against the inner machine finishedwall 3| of this projection, the forward e'nd'of the conduit 26 lies, andis positioned thereby. The customary train pipe hose 32 issuitablysecured to the rear end'of the conduit as by the usua'lclamp33'.

Mounted in the forward hollow end'of the stem B, and with its facedisposed at an angle. of 45 to the longitudinal direction of As afore-My improved coupling head C consists of a V shallow funnel 34disposed'on one side of the 1011- gitudinal center line of theconnecter,and a prong or pin'35 disposed on the opposite side of thelon-' g itudinal center line of the connecter. The funnel and the pinare preferably integral, and the latter lies in advance of the frontface of the former; Thepin is slotted as at 35 (Figure 1) throughout thegreater portion of its length to minimize the adverse effect of snow andice that might accumulate in the funnel 34. A machined seat 31 isformed'at the base of the funnel to receive the machined forward end ofthe pin 35 as shown in Figure 2 In thisview the stem B and conduit 26are illustrated in the coupled position. Preferably'the pin 35 is veryshort, and the funnel 34 is of corresponding shallow depth. Thisconstruction provides greater ruggedness and greater strength; itfacilitates exclusion of snow and ice fromthe funnel, and increases thecou- 55 plingcapacity of opposing connectors under all conditions ofdisalignment in service. The ad-' vantages of a short pin, and a shallowfunnel, andtheir contribution to the objectsof this invention,in'co-operation with the position of the 7 universal joint formedbetween the stem B and the lower "end of the arm M, are especiallyimportant. 'At 38 in Figure 6 is shown the point at which a longer prongor pin would contact with a Wall of the funnel 34 under a givencondition of disalignment'between connecter heads. In the. same view, itwill be noticed that the point of contact at '38 is considerably insideofthe uni versal joint 39, which is located, as in present connecters, aconsiderable distance rearwardly of the-head. The effect of furthermovement of the connecter heads towards each other would be to push theheads around to one side, causing a coupling failure. However, if theuniversal joint is located at ,40, as. in the present invention, eventhe long prong would strike outside of the universal joint and hencewould cause the coupling heads to swing into the coupled position. Byshortening the length of the pin 35, and lessening the depth of thefunnel 34, as illustrated, and by locating the universal joint at 40,even considerably greater disalignment between heads than that indicatedin Figure'fi can be had withp out failure to couple.

To'support the coupling head C in the normal horizontal position, Iemploy a chain or other suitable member 4| which is hooked into the headas at 42 and into a projection 43 on the base A.

In Figures 4 and a modification of my improved support is illustrated.This consists of threading the base A into the underside of the carcoupler as at 44, and providing the base with a rearwardly extendingfinger 45 which passes through an Opening in the arm l4 and extendsalong a horizontally disposed seat 46 formed on the upper end of thearm. The arm is pivoted to the base A at M On the seat 46 a verticallydisposed volute spring 41 is mounted, and is anchored in position by atie-rod 48 which extends downwardly through the spring, through theseat, and is hooked over the'rear end of the projection 45 for rockingmovement thereon. For supporting the coupling head C in the normalhorizontal position I provide a rod 49, one end of which is hooked intothe coupling head at 50 and the other end 5| of which extends looselyaround the arm l4 as shown. This end 5| of the rod is provided with anelongated opening so that by turning the rod to one side it may beslipped upwardly over the projections 52 which maintain it in propervertical position on the arm l4.

Figure 6has been included in the drawings to illustrate generally theadvantage of locating the mounting, as at 40, closer to the head of theconnecter rather than removed therefrom as indicated at 39. As set forthabove, with the connecter heads supported at 39, and the cars to becoupled on a curve of the track, it may occur that the point of contactof the pin 35 with the head 34 is disposed on that side of the straightline connecting the mountings 39 which is opposite from the center ofthe track curve. Such a contact between the connecter heads would resultin a slip by which would prevent the coupling of the heads. By locatingthe mounting closer to the head than as shown at 39, the disadvantagejust noted is less likely to occur. There is, however, a critical point,which may be determined by taking into consideration the maximumcurvature encountered in railway service, such that if the mounting islocated between the said critical point and the head, a slip by isimpossible. This is amply described in Figure 6, wherein, with themounting located at 40, the initial point of contact between the pin 35and the funnel 34 is disposed on the same side of the line 4040 as thecenter of the curve of the track. In the shallow funnel and short pinconstruction which I have provided, I have located the mounting 49 backfrom thehead a distance less than one-half the gathering range of thehead. This distance,

' it will be noted by proper measurement made in point may be definedalso to be such that the angle between the axis of the stem of theconnecter and the line of centers of the desired mountings is smallerthan the angle between said axis and the line extending from saidmountings to the initial contact point of a pin and funnel.

What I claim is:

1. An automatic train pipe connecter comprising in combination, a basefixed to the car coupler of a car, a thrust arm pivoted to the base andextending downwardly therefrom, resilient means adjacent the pivot pointof said arm for thrusting the arm forward, and a coupling head supportedby the lower end of said arm for rocking movement thereon, said couplinghead being placed under pressure by said resilient means when opposingconnecters couple up in service.

2. An automatic train pipe connecter comprising in combination, acoupling head, a stem extending through the head and rearwardly thereofand provided with a seat, a base rigidly secured to the car coupler of acar, a thrust arm pivoted to the base and extending downwardly therefrominto the seat in said stem, said stemhaving rocking movement on saidarm, means for supporting said head in the normal horizontal position,and resilient thrust means located above said stem and acting againstsaid arm to place said coupling head under pressure when coupled with soan opposing connecter.

3. An automatic train pipe connecter comprising in combination, acoupling head having a stem extending rearwardly therefrom and providedwith an opening forming a seat, a base fixed to the car coupler of thecar, and having a seat for a spring, a thrust arm pivoted to said baseand extending downwardly below said spring seat into the opening in saidstem, the contacting surfaces of said stem and said arm being flared inopposite directions, said arm being provided with means for supportingthe stem thereon, and a spring mounted in the seat on said base and acting against said arm to place said coupling head under pressure whencoupled.

4. An automatic train pipe connecter comprising in combination, acoupling head, a member extending through the head and to the rearthereof, a fixed ear member, a base rigidly secured to said car member,a thrust arm pivoted to the base and extending therebelow through a seatformed in the rear portion of said stem whereby said stem has rockingmovement on said arm, a rod engaging said arm and extending rearwardlytherefrom through a part of said base, and a spring surrounding said rodand disposed between the base and said arm and above said stem forthrusting the said arm forward to place said coupling head underpressure.

5. An automatic train pipe connecter comprising in combination, acoupling head provided with a stem, means for supporting said couplinghead including a base, a pivoted thrust arm anchored to the base andhooked into the stem, the hook connection being universal, whereby saidhead has universal movement, means for thrusting said arm forward toplace said head under pressure, and a conduit mounted in the forward endof said stem at an angle to the longitudinal direction of the connecter,whereby the rearward thrust against said arm of the fluid pressure insaid conduit will be reduced by a component of the force commensuratewith said angle.

6. An automatic train pipe connecter comprising in combination, acoupling head, a stem extending through said head and having a hollowforward end rigidly fixed in the head, the face of said forward endbeing at an angle to the longitudinal direction of said connecter, meansfor supporting the head for free universal movement, said meansincluding athrust spring, a conduit positioned in the hollow end of saidstem at an angle to the longitudinal direction of said connecter, therearward thrust on said arm due to the fluid pressure in said conduitbeing less than the forward thrust of said spring, and means forpositioning said conduit in said stem and said coupling head andproviding for quick removal therefrom when desired.

7 An automatic train pipe connecter comprising in combination, acoupling head having a member extending rearwardly therefrom in which isformed a seat, a base for supporting saidhead,

a thrust arm pivoted to the base and extending downwardly therefromthrough the seat in said member, flexible means for supporting said headin the normal horizontalposition, said means and the connection betweensaid member and said arm being movable to enable the coupling head toswing freely about a vertical axis, resilient means for resistinglongitudinal movement of said coupling head while enabling the said free7 swinging movement of the head, and gathering means for saidheadiwhichis adapted to connectwith a mating connecter to efiectcouplingof the respective heads under all normal coupling conditions, theinitialpoint of contact of "said gathering means on cooperating couplings beinglocated on the same side of the straight line connecting the seats ofthe respective couplings at which they are normally located underallconditions of track coupled, and a rigid member pivotally connected 7 tothe head and slidably interconnected with said arm so as to enable theangle of said member with respect to said arm to change as the headmoves to coupled position. I V

JOSEPH ROBINSON.

